Summary

Description

"This is the only one of the fragrances in an oil base, jojoba to be precise. Inspired by an ancient stone megalith used as a burial mound created as the devil himself flung the ancient stones into place. The scent itself hurtles mightily out of the bottle like an uncontrollable spell escaping into the air. A thick swathe of beeswax is studded with rooty vetivert and a very powerful cumin note. Combined with the warm smoothness of the base oil, the scent reeks of storm wrenched thunderstruck tree roots and ravaged eerie landscapes. There is a very unsettling smokiness rolling through it like the aftermath of cannon fire after a battle. One can imagine splintered trees, exploded mud and the metallic tang of blood in the air."

THE INSPIRATION
Taken from the Lush website:
“We find Simon Constantine in cold January, trudging across fields searching for the eerie spot known as Hellstone. The ancient Hellstone megalith was used as a burial mound 4000 years ago! As written in 1803, lore has it the Devil flung this stone! Inspired by the smells of unearthed roots and freshly turned earth, the Hellstone inspired perfume uses vetivert, cumin and beeswax.”

FROM THIS INSPIRATION
The Lush perfumiers then used this inspiration of earthiness and roots with dampness and chose vetivert which is such a deep earthy note and combined this with cumin and beeswax in jojoba oil to carry it and created this wonderfully earthy perfume.

I love the fact that Lush perfumes are created from different stories, music or experience rather than just a group of people in a laboratory just mixing things together until they find a combination they like.
THE BOTTLE
This new range is not presented in the plain black bottles that we are used to in Lush perfumes. These are in clear square bottles and some are round classic bottles depending on the size of the perfume inside. The labels are quite different, this reddish orage with a picture of a leaping shouting devil in the middle. The name of the perfume is in black with ‘Hellstone’ above and ‘Set In Stone’ below the picture. It is sort of retro cartoon style with the colours and certainly very different from the plain black ones of the original perfumes. They look a bit like mini liqueur bottles to me.

THE NOTES OR INGREDIENTS
Jojoba Oil to carry the other ingredients and because this is a light oil rather than alcohol the scents last longer on the skin as they don’t evapourate so quickly,
Madagascan Vetivert Oil which gives the deep earthy heart to the perfume
,Opoponax Oil is also known as sweet myrrh, and comes from a tree in the same family that produces myrrh resin. It has a similar scent to myrrh but with a slightly sweeter scent with overtones of wine as well.
Ambrette Seed Oil is a vegetable substitute for musk and gives a musky note. It is a lovely rich warm woody and slightly floral note which is very lasting so great for perfumes that you want to last well.
Methyl Ionone is a synthetic creation which has a sweet and powdery quality to fragrance and is added to many expensive perfumes on the market.
Limonene gives a citrus sort of orange like scent in perfumes
Geraniol is found in essential oil and has a rose sort of odour

THE SCENT IN MY VIEW
The overwhelming scent that hits you in this one is the vertivert. This is woody hideouts in the forest combined with an old library filled with comfortable leather chairs and polished wooden floors. This is heavy and very earthy but it also has hints of creaminess and sweetness but this only softens the earthiness rather than coming through on its own at any time.

This is such an amazingly lasting perfume that I put on in the morning and could still really smell on me when I went to bed over twelve hours later. On my clothes this lasted even longer, my jumper sleeves still smelled of this perfume for the entire next day and my scarf and coat smelled for days. This is one strong perfume and not one that you would need to top up at all during the day.
The sillage is also really good as so many people commented on my unusual scent or told me I smelled nice. This is not something you can check yourself but as so many people commented I think it must be good.

PRICES AND SIZES
This is another pretty expensive perfume as for 7g you will be paying £18, for 25g you will have to find £35, for 28g also £35 ( not sure about the two different prices for the same size). For 43g you will pay £45, for 46g you will be paying £50 and finally for 92g you will have to find the huge amount of £85 so I think that if I do mange to save up for this it will be the 7g size!
Although this is expensive I do think it is one that lasts so well and has such a strong scent that it is worth the money. You won’t need a lot in order to enjoy the aroma with this one.
RECOMMENDED?

I am not sure this one will appeal to all. This is a heavy woody vetivert aroma so if that is your scent of choice then give this a try, if you prefer light floral fragrances then this may not appeal to you.
If you do like earthy scents then although this is expensive you do get a really lasting scent that you can enjoy for a good long time each time you apply it.

I love these new perfumes from Lush and this is such a lovely cosy comforting sort of sitting in a leather chair by a wood burning fire sort of scent. It makes me feel cosy and reminds me of playing in the woods or sitting around a smoky bonfire on a damp November night and this gives you the warmth that you get from drinking a hot drink on a night like that.

This reminds me of Laphroig Single malt whiskey but this is a scent while that is the flavour. I love the fact that Lush create perfumes based on experiences and indeed they have also worked with cocktail creators to make perfumes that you can drink and I would love to try those!!